


Presenting... The Breaking Up With My Roommate Challenge!

by howelllesters



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 10:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10554646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howelllesters/pseuds/howelllesters
Summary: For Dan’s next video, he’s asked fans to give him a challenge, and the response is overwhelming. When he calls Phil up to inform him he’s moving out though, the response is unexpected to say the least.





	

“Hello, internet,” Dan smirked at the camera, offering his standard salute to the viewers. “Last week I asked you the- what- ugh.”

He groaned and shook his head before starting again.

“Hello, internet. Last week I asked you guys what challenge you’d like me to take on that was first started by another youtuber,” he managed in one breath, and took a moment to compose himself. He could barely speak today, which had everything to do with his nerves, and he was glad Phil wasn’t here to laugh softly at him as he passed his room, which he had a tendency to do every time he overheard Dan spitting out his words as he attempted to film.

Dan gave the camera a wry smile.

“And there was one challenge that I got asked to do more than any other. Presenting… the breaking up with my roommate challenge! You guys are evil.”

He stared at the camera for a moment, able to hear the sound effects he’d add in later just in his head. His phone was sat on his desk, staring accusingly at him, knowing what it was about to be used for. He almost felt guilty, but not enough to pick something else. His and Phil’s friendship was healthier than it had ever been - they were close enough that when this was all over, Phil wouldn’t disown him, but they were also both old and mature enough that he’d probably fall for it. Mostly because Dan was no longer… well, he was reluctant to use the word co-dependent, but he was definitely a lot more _in_ dependent now.

“As invented by prank king himself, Caspar Lee, I will be ringing AmazingPhil and informing him that I will be moving out. If you didn’t already know… firstly, where have you been for the last few years of my life?” Dan chuckled. “AmazingPhil is my best friend, and we’ve been living together for quite a while now, so he might take the news pretty hard. Or not, and I’ll have a life crisis.”

He gave a false laugh for effect, then paused briefly to stare into the distance, reminding himself that this was an act and that Phil would take the news hard. Probably. Oh god.

“So without f- pffffffft,” Dan rolled his tongue a little, warming up. “So without further ado, prepare for me to ruin the only friendship I’ve ever had.”

Dan picked his phone up with a sweaty hand, hitting Phil’s name in his contacts and sticking it on speaker, trying to level his breathing.

“Dan! Hey!” Phil said brightly down the phone, and Dan could feel gnawing guilt in his stomach already. “Everything alright?”

“Kind of,” Dan said uncertainly, trying to inject some authenticity into his voice. “I’m really sorry to bother you with this while you’re at home, but I need to talk to you.”

“Everything okay?” Phil asked gently, sounding a little concerned. “I’ll be home tomorrow. I can get back early if you want?”

Dan could picture the frown he was wearing and turned to the camera, letting out a silent giggle.

“Yeah, it’s fine, but I need to tell you this as soon as possible, so it can’t wait, sorry,” Dan got out in a rush.

“What’s up?” asked Phil, still sounding tentative but a little less worried.

“You know how I’ve been recording that documentary for the BBC?” Dan said innocently.

“Yeah?”

“Well they’ve sent the producers a few rough cuts of what they’ve got so far, and they really like it.”

“Dan, that’s great!” Phil said, sounding so thrilled that Dan hated himself again for what he was about to say. He’d planned this for maximum effect, so his words were intended to hit Phil where it hurt. He was truly awful.

“Thanks! So the thing is, they’ve kind of offered me a new job, a more permanent one,” Dan started, and he heard Phil’s breath hitch.

“Oh, cool,” Phil said, failing at being nonchalant. Dan grimaced at the camera. “Will you be able to fit that in around your videos and stuff? Because I can do more for the radio show if you need, and I can take over editing all of the gaming videos.”

Dan put his phone on the desk and put his head in his hands for his audience, knowing they were going to love this. Why was Phil such a sweetheart? This was killing him.

“Well that’s the thing really,” Dan said, and this time he didn’t have to fake how guilty he sounded. “It’s in Manchester. I’m moving back up there.”

Phil fell silent, and Dan winced. He almost wanted Phil to call him out there and then, so that he didn’t have to carry on with the lie. He’d planned this out meticulously, but Phil knew him so well, surely he had to know Dan wasn’t telling the truth? In all honesty, Dan had contemplated just making a different video, but when he’d asked the question, this challenge had made up about eighty per cent of the responses, and he couldn’t ignore that. His viewers were a force to be reckoned with.

“Right. Wow,” Phil said finally, and Dan pulled a sad face. “Can we not talk about this tomorrow? I’ll be back then, and I’d rather do it face to face and all. I mean, I’m not sure if I’m ready to just leave London again so suddenly, although I do miss Man-”

“Phil, I’m going by myself,” Dan stammered out, delivering the final blow that he’d hoped he’d be able to keep up his sleeve.

Internally, his heart was swelling at the idea that his best friend would truly consider just uprooting and leaving their home to stay with him, but Dan had to remind himself that this was a prank, and that he was here to provide entertainment.

“No way,” Phil exclaimed, and Dan went to offer some sort of false excuse, before realising that Phil’s tone of voice was all wrong.

He sounded… excited?

“Huh?” Dan asked, telling the truth for the first time this video, belatedly remembering that he was filming still, and flashing the camera a confused look.

“You’re moving out? So we’ll have a spare room?” Phil asked, and these were the words Dan had expected, the words he’d planned answers for, but he hadn’t expected Phil to sound so eager.

“Yeah, but I’ll help you find a new roommate as soon as I can-”

“No, Dan, it’s fine! I met up with some of my old school friends this weekend, and Luke, do you remember Luke? I’ve mentioned him a few times? Anyway, he’s moving to London for a new job but he has nowhere to stay, so I said he could stay on our sofa for a bit, but he can just take your room now! His job pays pretty well, so I can’t imagine the rent will be a problem.”

Dan felt like his stomach was somewhere around his knees.

By this point, the video had been abandoned, and Dan was starting to seriously panic. On the one hand, he was determined to see this prank through. On the other… he still needed a house?

This turn of events was not what he’d anticipated at all.

“Phil, look,” he began, realising he needed to come clean before this went too far.

“Really sorry but I’ve got to dash,” said Phil, sounding apologetic. “I’ll let Luke know, and he can come back with me tomorrow. Congratulations again, Dan, can’t wait to see you and we can celebrate properly! I’ll miss you so much but this is so amazing!”

“No, no, no, Phil,” Dan spluttered, but Phil said everything he needed to in a jumbled rush then hung up, leaving Dan staring at his phone in shock and fear.

Remembering he had a video to finish up, and knowing there was going to be a solution to all of this, there _had_ to be, Dan looked back up at the camera.

“We may have a problem,” he said after a pause, nodding decisively then switching it off, visualising the ‘to be continued’ text that he’d insert after that, then scolding himself for thinking about his bloody video at such a serious moment.

“Jesus Christ,” he breathed out, hands tugging at his hair. “Jesus. What the- oh Christ.”

Dan picked his phone up again and tried calling Phil, needing to explain everything this very instant, but it went straight to voicemail. He tried a few more times, and then gave up, leaving Phil such a frantic, garbled message that he probably wouldn’t even be able to tell what Dan was saying.

“Phil, there’s been a misunderstanding, please, please pick up your phone, or give me a call back, this is urgent.”

He took a deep, shaky breath, and tried to calm down. Everything was going to be fine. Phil and Luke - who the hell was Luke? Dan couldn’t place the name at all - would arrive back, and Dan would have to sheepishly explain that it was all a prank, and maybe Phil would be mad, and Dan would want to die as Luke looked at him in disbelief, but he could stay on their sofa as intended, or maybe Dan and Phil could top and tail, it wasn’t like they hadn’t done it before, and Dan would do everything he could to find this guy a great apartment in London and-

Dan stopped his increasingly anxious thoughts before they could get out of hand.

“Phil, please call me back,” he yelled frustratedly at Phil’s voicemail again, nearly in tears.

It was only nine in the evening, and Phil wasn’t due back until tomorrow morning at the earliest. Dan had at least twelve hours to stew over this, and time was undoubtedly going to drag.

How could he have been this stupid?

He’d expected all manner of responses from Phil. Anger, hurt, despair, disappointment, feigned happiness, but he’d never expected anything so positive, hadn’t seen ahead that _this_ might happen. Only Dan, he thought idly. This could only happen to him.

Deciding there was nothing else he could do tonight, and trying Phil’s phone one last time to no avail, Dan wandered into the kitchen and hunted through their medicine stash for a sleeping tablet. There was no way he’d be able to sleep at all tonight, let alone this early, but being by himself with his thoughts was a recipe for disaster, and he didn’t want to be sleep-deprived for the conversation tomorrow.

Forcing it down with the help of a biscuit, Dan was relieved to find it take effect reasonably quickly. By ten o'clock, he was fast asleep, dreams filled with Manchester and Phil and fear.

—

The sound of the front door being unlocked woke Dan the next morning - the tablet had done a good job.

Forgetting briefly why the noise made him feel so sick, everything came crashing back to him in a rush, and Dan was nearly tripping over his own feet in his hurry to pull some sweats and an old tshirt on. He needed to talk to Phil now.

“Phil!” he yelled, wrenching his door open, and he could hear his flatmate talking to someone. Probably Luke, Dan realised with a pang, and it had only just hit him how much it hurt to think of Phil living with someone who wasn’t him.

This wasn’t actually happening, Dan reminded himself, and that was why he needed to get to his friend now.

“Dan!” Phil grinned as he rounded the corner, but his smile soon dropped as he took in Dan’s frenzied appearance, wild eyes and tousled hair.

“Phil, we need to talk,” Dan said desperately, willing himself not to cry. The front door was still open and luggage was piled in the doorway, and the last thing he needed was for his neighbours to see him in tears as well as his new flatmate.

“Are you okay?” Phil asked, eyebrows knitted together, taking an uncertain step towards Dan.

“I was lying yesterday,” Dan started, deciding that the best course of action was dumping everything on Phil before the new guy could even get inside, and then they could go from there. Dan’s heart was pounding; Phil was going to be so annoyed. He was truly the nicest person on the planet, and now he was going to have to tell his friend that his irritating flatmate had lied to them, and everything was a mess, and oh Jesus, Dan was on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Dan, breathe,” Phil reminded him, and Dan nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, breathing,” he reassured Phil and himself. “I was lying yesterday. I’m not moving out, there’s no other job offer, it was all just a prank for a video and I’m so, _so_ sorry, this all got wildly out of hand and I didn’t expect you to have someone else to move in ready. But I’ll fix this, I promise, it’s all on me, I’ll figure it out and everything will be fine, and Phil, I’m really, really sorry- why are you laughing?”

“Ta da!” Phil crowed into his phone, and Dan hadn’t even noticed the device in his hand. “If you knew I could do it, your invisible cookies are in the post! If you bet against me, I expect my unicorn in three working days or less. Now I should probably wrap this video up and make sure danisnotonfire isn’t about to pass out.”

Phil turned the phone to face Dan, who was silent and white as a sheet, blinking as his brain tried to process something it was struggling with.

“Goodbyeee!” Phil grinned at his phone, stretching his hand out to cover the camera then finishing the recording.

“Are you- did you just- I’m not-,” Dan bleated, words sticking.

“Dan,” Phil laughed, nudging his bag inside the hallway with his foot then closing the front door. “When I say I’m a dinosaur of YouTube, I’m not lying. And you definitely need to work on your acting skills.”

Phil grinned at him, and everything started to fall into place.

“You knew it was a prank.”

“Yes.”

“You played along.”

“Indeed I did.”

“Luke’s not coming.”

“Luke doesn’t exist.”

“No one’s moving in to our apartment.”

“Sadly, no.”

“Why is that 'sadly’?” Dan spluttered.

“Kidding!” Phil said gently, shoving his phone into his pocket and pulling Dan in for a hug.

“Oh my god, Phil, I was so worried,” Dan breathed out, burrowing his head into Phil’s neck like he used to when he was younger. “I had to take a sleeping pill last night just to stop stressing.”

Dan could feel Phil shaking with laughter against him, and he started to smile as it sank in that he wasn’t going to have to move out, he wasn’t going to have to share Phil, and Phil wasn’t terrifyingly angry with him.

“You’re such an idiot,” Phil informed him, pulling away and wandering into the kitchen to make them both a cup of tea. “Although the Manchester thing, that was unexpected. Low blow.”

“Yeah, I know, my- wait, you knew this was coming?” Dan asked disbelievingly, and Phil snorted as he flicked the kettle on.

“I do watch your videos, you know,” he informed Dan. “And I read the comments. I’m not stupid.”

“Apparently I am,” Dan groaned, opening a nearby cupboard to hunt for some biscuits. He was feeling sorry for himself.

“As if you’d ever tell me you were moving out over the phone. In fact, as if you’d ever move out! What happened to being Phil trash number one?”

Dan sacrificed a chocolate digestive in order to throw it at Phil, smiling smugly when it hit the back of his head and cracked in half.

_@AmazingPhil: NEW VIDEO! My Roommate Breaks Up With Me? plz retweet for evil emojis >:)_

_@danisnotonfire: @AmazingPhil i hate you_

**Author's Note:**

> i know this idea has been done a few times with dan and phil, so i’m in no way claiming it as original! just added my own spin. :)


End file.
